Cybersecurity is applicable to more than just computers. With more and more businesses connecting machines, there are more and more vulnerabilities for hackers and bad actors to exploit.
When machine systems are attacked, consequences can range from stolen data and monetary ransom to injuries or even fatalities from hijacked machines. As a result, it's important to make sure that machines are as secure as any other IT device.
We asked Nivedita Ojha, VP of Product here at FORT Robotics, what key considerations CISOs and CIOs need to take into account when connecting machines in any industry–here’s what she had to say:
“You know, especially for CISOs in the OT world, if they have not thought of a machine as a device that can be taken control of by a hacker, then they should really start rethinking the role of a machine today. One of the largest agriculture OEMs has, in the last few years, retrofitted its tractors with modems.
So the moment a machine is retrofitted with a modem, and it is allowing for that machine to talk over a network and collect data over the cloud, that means this machine is live. And so anybody can take control of the machine remotely. Anybody can inject some malware into this machine. So that is why the CISOs need to really start thinking about security. If they haven't thought about it, they should have thought about it yesterday.
The question to ask is when should the CIO start thinking about security and safety? And I would say it's not. When. If they haven't thought about it, then they're already too. They should have thought about it yesterday."
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